Casten, Levin Lead 41 House Colleagues in Letter Urging Federal Reserve to Join Network for Greening the Financial System

Statement

Today, U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (IL-06) and Mike Levin (CA-49) led a letter signed by 41 of their House colleagues calling on the Federal Reserve to join the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) as an active member. Eight central banks established the NGFS in December 2017 to meet the goals set forward in the Paris agreement and to protect the financial system against risks associated with the climate crisis. As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens financial markets around the world, Casten and his colleagues are pushing the Federal Reserve to join the NGFS and prepare for financial disruption as a result of the climate crisis.

"After seeing the impact that the spread of COVID-19 has had on our nation's financial system, we believe it is more important than ever to prepare for future external shocks. However, the COVID-19 pandemic will end, and we will be able to begin recovery and rebuild our economy. Climate change, on the other hand, is fundamentally changing the risks our financial system will have to face over the decades to come," the Members wrote. "We cannot allow the rest of the world to leave us behind in paving a path forward to address the economic impact of climate change. We ask you to help the United States take a leadership role in addressing the financial repercussions of climate change by joining the NGFS."

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